Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Angels Before Man by rafael nicolás

81 reviews

bree343's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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sam_xmc's review

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dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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suns_prelude's review

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dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I adored the vast majority of this story. Absolutely gorgeous prose, the author knows how to make Lucifers uncertainty and pain felt so well, it has so many lines and moments that remain stuck in my head and Lucifers downward spiral hangs over your head like an axe…

For that I am devastated to give this book such a low score. 

There is a solid 50 page block that completely ruins the rest of the book for me. I love when stories depict a character in crisis through a change in writing style and pace, it allows readers to connect so much better, but I believe this was done so terribly, I almost put the book down entirely even though I was already so close to the end.

I loved this book so thoroughly up until that point that I thought I would be giving it a 5 star. I’m so disappointed.

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neonsonight's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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fanboyriot's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Read For:
✓ Slow Burn
✓ Forbidden Love 
✓ Religious Themes
✓ Hurt/Comfort (mostly hurt)
✓ Amazing Character Development

˗ˏˋ ★ REVIEW ★ ˎˊ˗
A bit of a slow start for me, it took me several chapters to get into the writing style but after that I really enjoyed it, the author did a great job with the descriptions and character development.  Part one of the book was really good.  The storyline, the trust building between Lucifer and Michael was so wholesome.  And while it might have taken me a moment for me to get into the story the characters I loved right away; especially Lucifer.  He was my favorite.

Overall, it was a really beautifully written story; but also VERY emotional and a bit unhinged, in the second part of the book.  It was written really well but damn, was not expecting all of that.

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Angst Level: 💧💧💧💧💧
POV: Third Person
Release Date: 24, September 2023

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cbee45's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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weirdassfanta's review

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dark emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Beautifully gruesome.
Unfortunately I hit a reading slump right before starting this, so I feel I didn’t get to savor it as much as I would have otherwise, even so, this is a remarkable, gut wrenching book. Truthfully I have always been a sucker for pomegranate/cannibalism symbolism in love, and this took that part of me and made it into a book. Watching the process of Lucifer being used and toyed with by God and his love for Michael slowly making him realize what abuse he’s been through and him taking a similar power to work towards freeing not just him, but anyone who chooses to follow him. Even when he knows he will not overcome God, and will be punished yet again, he fights so he does not feel trapped under the lies again. The only I have to say is that I dislike the ending, but I do with many books when they tears me to shreds in such a way. I dislike the ending in a way that I am captivated by it. Just don’t expect the fall of Lucifer to be a happy story ig. A book that time and time again left me simply saying, what the fuck.

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caseyreadslol's review against another edition

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challenging reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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wardenred's review

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emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

And he looked upon himself, but not for long — still couldn’t meet the features of his face because they could spur a need, this need to take. To grab Lucifer and save him — what is there to save him from, in Heaven?

Well, damn. I’ve seen quite a few positive reviews for this book, and it’s one of those times when I just feel I’ve read a different story? I would love to read the one all those reviewers got, it sounds rad. The one in front of me, though… not so much.

I really like the concept here, to be clear, but sadly not the execution. I guess I may retain a few fond memories about the first half, although it was unbearably slow and full of cardboard cutouts in place of characters. Seriously, most of the angels we meet seem to be there only for the author to go, “wink wink, nudge nudge, see that name? THIS HERE IS A FUTURE DEMON.“ And despite spending all those endless pages there, I’ve still got so many question about why Heaven here is the way it is, or how it functions exactly in many aspect. Also, all those big joyous worshiping scenes made me feel weirdly uneasy, almost on part with the gore and sexual assault from the second half. Still, there were also some nice turns of phrase here, some beats that evoked emotion in positive ways, and an overall feeling of “this set-up is sure lengthy, but whatever’s to come when it pays off looks promising from here.“

And then I reached the second half, and, eh. It got worse. On one hand, the pacing no longer was so abysmally slow, but on the other, it got incredibly patchy. The narrative jumped all over the place. There was a lot more focus on the characters’ reactions to pivotal events than the events themselves, so part of the time I genuinely found it hard to figure out what was going on, or how we transferred from one plot point to another. The sudden introduction of gratuitous headhopping didn’t help matters at all (seriously, *why*). 

My main takeaway from this book sadly is, “I just don’t get it.“ I don’t get why Lucifer’s fall from grace was driven so greatly by shame (I find it interesting, actually! But. The execution. I don’t get it). I don’t get a single thing about God, like what did he even want, what his motivations were, why. I have no idea what most of the characters’ agendas were, if they had any in the first place. I think I maybe see what the author was trying to do, and the ideas are interesting, but the shape they take is just confusing.

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raisinreads's review against another edition

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4.25

they struck my man down for being too gay 😔

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